This Blog is going to be covering a Harball Dynasty League for WhatIfSports. The League is Long Haul R Us. We are entering our 18th Season. Comments are Welcome!

Breaking News

All spots filled! Start of Season 13

Sunday, July 6, 2008

American League East

Boston Taverneers: With the second highest batting average in the league and at least 90 wins every season so far, Boston is the team to beat in the East.Hitting: Boston is at the top when it comes to hitting (.290 batting average). They are led by veteran All Star Joe Brown and season's two 11th overall pick Chris Reid who is an all around short stop.Pitching: Boston's 3 main men (Raul Duran, Howard Malone, and season 1 ROY Darryl Morgan) are lights out just like the Celtics big 3. Their bullpen is just as good, led by future All Star closer Charles Moreno.Draft Class:Tecwrg drafted another future All star closer and possible Hall of Famer Billy Palmer who has great control and amazing splits. With their other 1st round pick they pick another reliever Billy Stevens who is a little worse than their number 1 pick. In the second round they picked a good bottom of the rotation pitcher Paulie Keats and hard hitting first basemen Gus Knight. DRAFT GRADE: A- or AMy Prediction:Boston does just as good as their other seasons and it all comes down to their last few games of the season to see who will take 1st- New York or Boston.Overall Grade: B+Future Team Grade: B+ or A-New York Cosa Nostra: New York has just been great these past few years, coming in first the last three years. I would not be surprised if they keep up this streak.Hitting: New York is right behind Boston in hitting with a .284 batting average which could change in just a few games. Most of this is due to David Tamura. A real let down is the huge decline injury prone second baseman Morgan Walker who could have been a top hitter in Long Haul.Pitching:NY's rotation is very good- probably better than Boston's. They have 5 lights-out starters in the majors right now-all under 30. They are still waiting for T.J. Garcia; their first round pick of season 2. No doubt about it, their staff is one of the best in the leagues, maybe even the best. Cosa Nostra's pen is pretty decent too with the help from set up man Sam Jackson.Draft Class: NY's first round pick Albert Sewell is a decent hitter that if used correctly could be productive. In the second round of the draft they selected a HUGE steal Pablo Suarez. DRAFT GRADE: B-My Prediction: New York does just as good as their other seasons and it all comes down to their last few games of the season to see who will take 1st- Boston or New York.Overall Grade: B+Future Team Grade: ADurham Bulls: a 500 ball club- that says it all.Hitting: Around .270 batting average, the Bulls are right in the middle, not to bad, not to good. Sherm James who is the star of the team can't win for them. James needs some help so Durham should consider trying to either sign or trade for a big bat next season.Pitching: Most of their pitchers are still in the minors including Bernie Webster, who doesn't have great splits but still isn't too bad. Their main man in the late innings is their closer Jumbo Campos. He's not terrible, but he won't be an All Star closer.Draft Class: With the 10th overall pick they picked the good hitting catcher Russell Jefferson. He's a good hitter, but with the 10th pick I think they should have gotten someone better. Their next pick was an above average pitcher Wilfredo Terrero who could be a good number 3 pitcher for them. Their other pitcher (Dorian Merrick) who isn't anything special could be a below average pitcher in the majors. DRAFT GRADE: C+ OR B- (I still feel they could have got a better player than Jefferson with the 10th overall pick)

My Prediction: Needs work. At best, a little over .500.Overall Grade: C or C+Future Team Grade: C+ or B-Chicago Longshoremen: Chicago never had a winning season finishing fourth every season except the first season(which they finished third). Also changing owners four times isn't a good thing either. Since majesty95 had the first overall pick the last two seasons in a row, things aren't looking so bad at Wrigley Field.Hitting: Surprisingly, Chicago has been able to keep a team batting average of about .280. With the help from future stars(season 4's first overall pick) Fred Little and Rule 5 Draftee, Theo Griffiths their line up is pretty solid. What i would recommened is get rid of Alex Perez, who is taking up about 12 mil a season. C'mon, 12 mil for a career batting average of .273? Besides a few players, their lineup is pretty good.Pitching: Now I bet you're all wondering why is his team doing so bad with a good lineup? Well maybe having the second highest ERA in the league is the problem. Geronimo Rijo is pretty good(forgetting about the bad control), but he can't pitch every game for them. And I'm hoping that it won't come to rushing this years first overall pick, Quinton Hundley up to the bigs just to win a few more games. Oh, and by the way, he's a complete monster that guy. In order to win Chicago really needs to work on their pitching.Draft Class: Before taking a good look at their draft, I prayed that with having the first overall pick two years in a row, they got some good players out of losing. Well first off, they got pitchers with their first five picks, which I'm very glad to see. Second, they got lights out SP Quinton Hundley. With the next pick they got a average reliever to help out there below average bullpen, Alexander Winn. Overall, majesty95 did everything he was supposed to in the draft. DRAFT GRADE: A- or A (mostly because of all the pitchers they drafted and future Cy Young winner Quinton Hundley)

My Prediction: Without pitching they won't be winning any games soon, but majesty95 has done a great job rebuilding.Overall Grade: D+ (huge improvement this year)Future Team Grade: C (wouldn't be surprised if next season this grade changes from a C to B+)